Ecological Niche, Empty niche , Overlapping (video) / The Unlimited Niche

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  Ecological Niche | 2014

I developed the topic of an ecological niche in three forms in a composition called: Ecological Niche The installation was created by two museum display cases which I bended against one another using wedges, so that they create an angle on the verge of collapse of the objects on display. One of the showcases contained natural objects and the other one a watercolor painting that evokes either landscape with bird flocks or fire in the landscape with floating ashes. This watercolor painting has been torn into several parts, to achieve an effect of a composition made of fragments. All exposed elements teeter on the edge of sliding off the exhibition showcases. Empty niche An Empty Niche is a space that remains if some animal or plant species go extinct, either naturally or by human hand. As a medium for my interpretation of an empty niche I chose a photo capturing the situation before human contact, and an exhibit of the extinct Thylacine Tasmanian. The photo was taken in the depository of the National Museum, where one of the infrequent Thylacine exhibits is located. The gesture of the human hand is taken from the scene Creation of Adam by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. Together with the Thylacine, the meaning of this gesture becomes ambivalent: 1) The man with his destructive interventions in the natural environment is causing the extinction of another kind – “the gesture of the destroyer.” 2) The man seeking to correct his own mistakes (efforts to revive the genome of extinct animals) – “the gesture of the creator.” Niches Overlapping (video) / The Unlimited Niche (audio) Video: The composition consists of fragmentary records of domestic performances, the communication (a game) between human and animal activated with the motion of bird feathers, a recording of the event in which I took a piece of Christmas decoration in the woods and placed it on a living tree. This animation is pervaded by shots showing examples of relationships between various organisms and man. I discovered the form of the graphic symbol for ecological niche based on variation in a multiplication of ellipse parts. These are geometric patterns loosely based on a drawing of the architectural niche – the apse. By multiplication and mirroring this geometric element, an ellipse is formed. Copying and mirroring this ellipsis in turn creates a regular shape resembling a stylized flower or leaf. This shape can also be perceived as two hearts stuck together by their tips. By these variations, the shape gained its actual form with internal spaces and in form of a simple animation it pervades the entire video. The drawing of the symbol on the niche wall in the video was made by beetroot juice and melted Chlorella – freshwater algae. I work with these “paints”, because in addition to the beautiful pigment they also offer another element that is important for me – they contain substances with a cleansing effect. Audio: The Unlimited Niche is a rhythmic, cyclical repetition of this phrase. Limitlessness is one of the foundations for the development, but it is a utopia in normal life.